


Experimentin'

by ParagonDeLurid



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Experimentation, Fluff, M/M, after daryl escapes the saviors, and that sounds really wrong, cursing, idk really, jesus is naughty, what is this shit?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 17:45:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9776963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParagonDeLurid/pseuds/ParagonDeLurid
Summary: After escaping the saviors and making it back to the hilltop community, Daryl and Jesus make a connection.





	

It had been a few days since Daryl had escaped from the saviors, and he'd barely said a word. Grunted a few times, said thank you whenever Jesus brought him food, but that was about it.

Jesus was getting more and more worried about the man. He was barely functioning, eating, sure, but he never left his bed. He could only imagine what horrors Negan put Daryl through, and he would do anything to comfort the man. He just didn't know how.

"Daryl?" He called, outside the door to the tracker's room, knocking – actually, it was Jesus' room but he'd gotten used to calling it otherwise, considering it was Daryl who had been sleeping in the bed.

After a few moments of silence, a deep, gruff, "Come in," came from the other side of the door. Jesus opened the door slowly and carefully, peering inside. Daryl was sitting on the edge of the bed, hair damp and looking fresh. He'd finally taken a shower.

"It's nice to see you up." Jesus said, a soft smile gracing his lips.

"I guess," Daryl muttered, running a hand through his shaggy hair, "just nice to be clean, ya' know?"

Jesus nodded, then tilted his head toward the tray he held, "I brought you food."

"'See that." Daryl replied. He jerked his head to the left slightly, gesturing Jesus to come over. And the man did, setting the plate on the bedside table.

"Thanks, Paul."

"Paul?" Jesus chuckled, raising an eyebrow; hardly anyone called him by his real name.

"What?" Daryl grunted, "I ain't callin' you Jesus."

The other man snorted. "Alright then." Said Jesus, smirking and shaking his head. Without further word, Daryl turned away from him and dug into the food he'd been brought; bread and fresh fruit.

Maybe it was pushing things a bit, but Jesus sat himself down next to Daryl, palm finding it's way to the tracker's forehead, feeling the temprature. "How are you feeling?" He wondered, voice unintentionally quiet.

Daryl shrugged, "All right."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jesus asked gently, finally prompting Daryl to turn and look in his direction.

"No." He said, voice gruff, but oddly quiet.

"Sorry."

"'S okay."

"Daryl, is there anything I can do at all?" The biblically nicknamed man asked, knowing that Daryl took a lot of convincing to open up – he'd both observed and been told.

Daryl sighed – what a persistent fucker Jesus was – and then shrugged again. He abandoned the food, grumbling, "I don't know, I guess distract me or somethin'?"

Now, when Daryl said the word _distract_ , Jesus' face got suddenly warm, and a thought popped into his head. Though, he quickly shoved that thought away, and decided on something else. He wasn't sure how Daryl would react – it would probably be either with confusion or a cold shoulder. Finally, with a deep sigh, Jesus twisted towards Daryl and wrapped his arms around the man's waist.

"What the hell, man?" Daryl asked almost instantly, but he didn't push Jesus away.

The longer haired man ignored the question, replying with his own, "Daryl, have you ever thought that having someone else in your life would be good for you?"

"I have people," Daryl said with a disapproving grunt, "I got Rick and Michonne, Carol, Maggie and-... you."

"I mean romantically." Jesus explained, pulling away from the hug and blushing deeply.

" _Oh_."

A memory flashed in Daryl's mind – Abraham asking if he'd ever thought of settling down. The tracker sighed, "I don't know. I mean, the world's kinda gone to shit; who has time for love?"

"Well," Jesus chuckled awkwardly, "a lot of your friends, apparently."

Daryl only grumbled.

"Sorry for bringing it up." Jesus mumbled, literally about to stand up and leave. Then he felt a hand grab his wrist and turn him. Rough lips were pressing against his in the next moment.

The kiss was firm, rather stiff, and ended quickly. Afterwards, both men were rigid – Jesus from shock, Daryl from confusion.

"I don't know how relationships work." The tracker admitted after a moment.

"I could... teach you." Jesus responded, tilting his head and offering a tiny smile.

To his surprise, Daryl started nodding, smiling softly in return, "Yeah, sounds... good – real good."

Jesus let out a chuckle, falling back onto the bed in relief. The tension was finally gone.

Next thing he knew, Daryl was lying down next to him, asking, "Mind if I do some experimentin'?"

Shaking his head and bursting out into loud laughter, Jesus managed, "No, not at all."

Then, Daryl kissed him again, softer this time. And that was the - admittedly awkward - beginning of something more for them.

.

.

.

"Would you, perhaps, mind experimenting a little lower?"

Daryl's only response was punching Jesus in the arm.


End file.
